More than a year after Gqeberha mother Vanessa van Rensburg was killed, her boyfriend is due in court this week for a pre-trial conference, as her grieving family continues to endure a slow, painful wait for answers — and accountability.
In the meantime, her family, in their pursuit for justice, say time has not lessened their grief; it has only amplified it.
They also felt like they were being left in the dark as to the progress in the case against prominent local businessman Rob Evans.
Speaking from Ireland, Van Rensburg’s brother, Johan, said it had been a difficult journey to navigate because there were still so many unanswered questions.
“Remembering someone you love should bring some comfort, and it does, but not when there are still so many unanswered questions and no closure,” he said.
“It is hard to remember Vanessa without being confronted with the way she was taken.
“Those two things sit together whether you want them to or not.”
Van Rensburg, 36, was allegedly murdered by Evans at his Oyster Bay holiday home during the early hours of April 20 2025.
She was beaten and strangled.
Evans, 58, the only other person believed by the prosecution to have been at the house at the time, was arrested at his Newton Park business, Algoa Plastics, in the days that followed.
After two unsuccessful bail applications, he remains in custody.
He has maintained his innocence throughout.
Johan said because they were dispersed as a family, they spent the first anniversary of Van Rensburg’s death separately but shared messages of remembrance with each other.
“I was travelling to China the day before the anniversary,” he said.
“Climbing onto that flight, I was overwhelmed with emotion, the same way I had been a year earlier when we got the news and we caught the first flight out of Ireland.
“I thought about her for most of that flight and cried quietly.
“It was painful in a way I had not quite expected, even a year on.
“I think part of me assumed time would have softened it more than it had.
“Walking the Great Wall of China on the anniversary of her passing was something I will not forget.
“I spent over four hours walking.
“The scenery is surreal, and somewhere in those hours, I felt less sad than the day before.
“I found myself remembering the good things more than the loss.”
He said he travelled a lot for work and remembered a time he had video-called his sister from Paris, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
“She always revelled in my joy and shared those moments with me as if she were standing right there.
“Her famous line was: ‘Ah, Johan, you’re living your best life.’
“Now every time I experience something new, I hear her voice in my head saying exactly that.
“There was still a big part of me that felt her absence standing on that wall, not being able to pick up the phone and show her where I was.
“She was always so genuinely proud of what I had achieved; never an ounce of anything but happiness for me.”
Johan said Van Rensburg had been meant to visit him in September 2025.
“That is the part that still does not sit right with me.
“It remains painful, unfair and extremely unjust.”
He said when he lived in SA, Van Rensburg would randomly arrive at their house for a power nap.
“She loved an afternoon nap and found real solace in our home.
“After we moved to Ireland that stopped, obviously, but we caught up on phone calls at least once a week.
“If not a call, it was banter on WhatsApp, voice notes back and forth, that kind of thing.
“We miss her laughter and her humour.
“She had a personality a lot like Phoebe from [the sitcom] Friends.
“Endearingly scatterbrained, often arriving at a conversation several steps behind everyone else and seeing absolutely nothing unusual about that.
“Her humour was deadpan by accident rather than design, and she delivered her most absurd observations with complete sincerity.
“On a happy note, her daughter is following in her footsteps.
“The stories we hear of what she says and does, the way she sees things, it is so identical to her mother that it stops you in your tracks.
“It is the sweetest thing.
“We try to hold onto that and not dwell too much on the bittersweet reality of it.”
He said the rest of the family would attend Evans’ appearance in the Gqeberha high court on Wednesday, but he was unfortunately unable to be there due to work commitments.
“I plan to be there towards the end, when it matters most, closer to verdict.
“But there is no playbook for this.
“We have had no support, no guidance on the process, and at times no answers at all.
“It has felt at times like we have been forgotten, like this is just another case number, another docket, another court proceeding in an overloaded system.
“That is the sad reality many families face and it does not make it easier to sit with.
“It is numbing.
“There is also a real fear that the small amount of progress we have made towards closure will be undone as the trial gets closer and the wounds are opened up again.”
He said they remained hopeful nevertheless.
“We trust the state to do its job and we believe justice will prevail.”
However, he said nothing would bring Van Rensburg back or fill that void.
Asked about his thoughts on SA and his sister’s murder adding to the stark number of gender-based violence (GBV) cases, Johan said despite all the good the country had to offer, it carried complex and unresolved systemic problems.
“GBV is one of them and it has reached a point where it can no longer be treated as an exception.
“It has become, in too many communities, an accepted reality.
“That is the most dangerous place a society can arrive at.
“The statistics speak for themselves.
“There is a gap between what the law provides and what is consistently enforced, and families like ours feel that gap acutely.
“What I hope the justice system sends out, through every conviction and every sentence handed down, is a clear and consistent message that this behaviour carries consequences.
“Not as the only solution but as part of one.
“The justice system alone cannot change the mindset of men who choose to abuse, assault or kill women.
“That requires society, and men in particular, to take a far harder and more visible stance against it.
“I will leave it there on the specifics of this case, as proceedings are ongoing and it would not be appropriate for me to say more.
“But in general terms, SA deserves better than what too many of its women and children are living with.”
Van Rensburg’s mother, Charmaine Linde, said not a moment went by that she did not miss or think about her daughter.
“They say time heals — but it doesn’t,“ Linde said.
“I find that as time goes by, the ache in my heart gets worse.
“Especially when you want to tell her about something or ask her something.
“It’s the little things.
“I obviously want justice to prevail but I try not to think about it.
“I focus on my grandchildren to get me through the tough days.”
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